Abstract
In iron ore pelletizing plants a range of process parameters such as particle size distribution, specific surface area, and moisture, must be controlled to achieve optimized operation conditions. Particle size distribution and specific surface area are controlled during the grinding operations. Moisture, however, is controlled during filtration of the ground products. This work investigates the relationship between particle morphology, filter cake moisture and filter capacity. The samples were taken during the filtration tests and referred to three different blends presenting distinct mineralogical features and similar chemical compositions in order to investigate the effects of only the hematite surface characteristics. Six types of morphology are distinguished: granular hematite, tabular hematite, martitic hematite, polycrystalline hematite, hematite-goethite aggregates and goethite. For each filtration test, the filter cloth product was characterised. The characterisation analysis revealed that blends containing martitic hematite concentration above 11.45 percent increased substantially the filter capacity. However, it had also caused an increasing in final moisture content that reached values around 10.0 % compared with industrial moisture specification that can vary on the range of 8.5 to 9.5 %.
Highlights
In iron ore pelletizing plants, the process parameters must be under rigorous controlled conditions in order to maintain the process at optimized operating conditions
Samples A, C, E, and F are originally flotation products and the results obtained for the specific surface area for those samples increases as the proportion of martitic hematite gets higher, such as observed in samples E and F
The specific surface area parameters showed differences. This may be explained by the higher porosity characteristic of martitic hematite, which the pores space contributing to the increase of the specific surface area
Summary
In iron ore pelletizing plants, the process parameters must be under rigorous controlled conditions in order to maintain the process at optimized operating conditions. The variables involved in iron ore concentrate blend preparation are particle size distribution, specific surface area, and filter cake moisture. Particle size distribution and specific surface area are controlled during the grinding stages, whereas the cake moisture is controlled during the filtration process. These operation variables are strongly influenced by the mineralogical features of the raw material to be processed, which interfere in the productivity indexes. The efficiency of the filtration process is marked by a relationship between the control of the filter cake moisture and capacity. It is important to emphasize that the filter efficiency and cake moisture are related to grinding parameters, such as final particle size distribution and specific surface area. Filtration pilot tests were performed and the relationship between the moisture of the cake and the productivity was determined
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